The Importance of a Teacher
by Red Beast Rises
Summary: The Second Hokage lives through the First Ninja World War. What impact can he have on future generations.
1. Chapter 1

I don't own Naruto or any of the characters from the series.

"Talking"

'Thinking'

This is my first time writing a Fanfiction. Any comments or recommendations are welcomed.

Chapter One - Overwhelming Odds

Valley of the End

"It's over Madara, you can't continue." Hashirama desperately tried to save his once friend from his madness.

"I'll never admit defeat again, even if it kills me" yelled Madara lunging at his opponent with the last of his strength. Five yards away from his enemy a wooden spike shot through his chest stopping him in his tracks and ending his life.

"I'm sorry I couldn't save you. I always thought we could be the best of friends. It seems your thirst for power ran too deep to be quenched" Hashirama mumbled as tears fell from his eyes. As he looked at his surroundings and took his former friend's body from the stake he looked at the massive scars they had left in the terrain around them. "This is a battle that will be remembered until the end of time. You died a great warrior and that won't be forgotten."

He jumped away from the scene and returned to the village they had built together. A plot of land was cleared and a monument was build commemorating the death of a great ninja. He was the first great ninja laid to rest in that cemetery, but he surely wouldn't be the last.

Shortly after his death peace talks began between all of the shinobi nations. The Tailed Beasts were divided among them in an attempt to maintain peace, but all of the efforts of the First Hokage failed. The first shinobi war began anyway. Many lives were lost and the cemetery expanded and a memorial was made for the fallen. Madara would keep his sole headstone and be remembered as a founder of their great village, but only the man who killed him would go to visit him.

Several weeks into the war.

"Saru, I don't think we're going to make it out of this one. I will be the decoy. You are the young wills of Fire that will defend our village in the future."

"No! You are the Hokage there is no greater ninja than you in the village. It needs you" yelled Danzo.

"Danzo, you are always competing with Saru over one thing or another, but here you need to unite and work together. Don't make this a personal fight. You two are still young. Don't be hasty your time will come. Protect those who love the village and those who believe in you. Nurture those whom you can entrust the next generation. Starting tomorrow you are the Hokage, Saru. Take care of the Hidden Leaf Village"

"I won't leave you here Tobirama-sensei. I swore I'd protect the village and it still needs you" yelled Hiruzen. it would be an honor to be named Third Hokage, but not now. It couldn't happen now in some battleground running from the enemy. "If you're staying here then so shall we." Danzo, Koharu, and Homura all agreed.

"Don't be foolish this isn't a fight that will be won. You need to protect the Leaf for me, for all of your comrades now, and all that will come after you."

"No Hokage abandons a fellow ninja and I won't start my reign by doing so," Hiruzen stated stubbornly.

The enemy would be arriving shortly. Twenty-five elite Shinobi from the cloud village were catching up to them rapidly. The Second Hokage cursed and ordered his students to setup as many traps as possible before they arrived.

The Kinkaku force was upon them. Several tripwires and pressure plates went off triggering explosive tags, but 20 Ninja were still standing. The Second Hokage made the next move leaping from cover and slicing another in half with his Sword of the Thunder God. Each of his four students made similar attacks, but only Hiruzen and Danzo were succesful. Tobirama flew by many of the ninja towards another clearing leading 13 of the ninja away from his students =.

The students gathered back to back to defend themselves and their teammates. Their plan was countered by a yell of Lightning Pillar and a column of light appearing in their former positions. They scattered and made it to the trees without being injured by the attack, but all were left in a dangerous position separated and against forces with more experience than them. Luckily for them, the majority of the enemy was focused on The Second and they were left alone with a single enemy each. All of them were underestimated providing them a great advantage.

Danzo's Fight

Danzo quickly realized that he was against a ninjutsu expert as more lightning flew his way. Shortly after dodging a lightning bolt man dropped in front of him to taunt him.

"Just give up kid you're what 18 at most. There is no way you're going to beat me. I'll give you a chance to run away and let you live. There's no reason for you to die here. All we want is the Hokage." His enemy proclaimed.

Danzo shook his head. "I'll never abandon my Hokage." He ran towards his enemy pulling out kunai and throwing a few at him.

"Have it your way kid I'll just have to kill you." The cloud ninja leapt back smirking while completing hand seals and yelled Lightning Spear. Another bolt of lightning shot from his hands towards Danzo and he expected to watch him die. This time Danzo was ready and had completed his hand signs at the same it yelling Wind Bullet. The cloud ninja was shocked as the bullet passed through his chest. As he died he had one last thought 'outdone by a fire shinobi with a wind element. Kinkaku is going to be pissed.'

Danzo was quick to leap towards Homura knowing that Hiruzen would help Koharu.

Hiruzen's Fight

In Hiruzen's battle things didn't appear to be going so well. He was on the defensive against the ninja's sword. Wielding his adamantine staff, A transformation of the Monkey Prince Enma, and blocking his enemy's sword without fail so far. He didn't have time for counter attacks, but he was quickly learning his opponents style. Backing away as far as he could he whispered to his staff "have you perfected it yet."

"Good enough" was the brief reply from his staff. His life was staked on this next attack. As his enemy charged him he set the end of his staff in the ground and it started to grow rapidly. His enemy having not seen the transformation was surprised by this new attack. He made a side step and avoided the attack while continuing his rush only ten yards away. Just as quickly the staff came back unknown to the cloud ninja.

He could see the fear in the leaf shinobi's eyes as he thrust his sword towards his chest. Sarutobi opened his kunai pouch and armed himself for his last attack. Just a foot away from his target the cloud ninja felt two large arms wrap around his chest. His momentum stopped, his legs flew out from under him and his arms flew to what was restraining him on instinct briefly forgetting about his real opponent. This brief second allowed Hiruzen to take his drawn kunai and plunge it into his enemy's heart.

A look of confusion on his face as the cloud ninja died. Hiruzen stood there as he took in what had just happened he had been a quarter of a second away from death and was barely saved. Enma returned to his normal staff form Hiruzen spoke. "We need to find Koharu"

Koharu's Fight

Koharu was almost dead she had been able to survive for about ten minutes as the cloud ninja played with her. He had cut her several times, but the last cut had some lighting chakra in it and now her whole body was numb. She had accepted her death as the cloud ninja walked toward her with a grin on his face.

"You know it's been awhile since I've fought a fine kunoichi like you. I think I'm going to enjoy this a bit more. Your friends will be dead now and nobody is around to save you." He continued toward her and reached for his pants undoing them as he reached her. He leaned down to her and his chest exploded in gore. A large staff expanding through it and into the tree on the other side. Hiruzen knelt down beside her to check her injuries. There were several long cuts around her body and her clothes were in tatters, but the cuts were shallow and she would be able to move as soon as the lightning left her system. In 5-10 minutes, they would move to find Danzo and Homura.

Homura's Fight

Homura was rapidly dodging and retreating trying to buy time for backup. His opponent was taking their fight seriously and hadn't said a word. He had to dodge another streak of lightning with the substitution jutsu. He began to think about the odds of his survival 'that's the fifth time I've had to use that jutsu in the past three minutes. I have enough chakra, but it is becoming physically exhausted. Chakra won't help me if I'm dead.'

Homura decided he needed to go on the offensive doing hand signs and yelling Fire Breath and burning the forest around him in a circle. 'I hope someone finds me before it's too late.'

The enemy jumped into the circle and walked towards him. He decided his enemy a fool for making it harder to escape. Another charge towards his enemy wielding his sword expertly as all cloud elite could. Slashing into his opponent only to find his blade going through him completely. His eyes widen. There was no resistance at all. 'A clone. I need to be more careful.' A normally useless jutsu was enhanced by the reduced visibility in the smoke that had filled the ring. Several kunai flew towards him, but they were all blocked easily.

Danzo raced towards the massive fire hoping that his friend had enough time for him to get there.

The smoke was starting to suffocate both ninja and it left them desperate to get out. Both choosing the same method they jumped high into the air. It left them both exposed and they traded ninjustu. A fireball clashing with a lightning bolt. The lightning shot through the fire being more concentrated, but only blew a hole in the middle without stopping the fireball. Both shinobi used the substitution jutsu to escape their enemy's Attacks and falling on opposite sides of the ring of fire.

As Homura landed Danzo appeared to help him. "I'm here for you. I'll wait and surprise him. Just make an opening."

"I'll try" was Homura's terse response.

The cloud ninja appeared in front of him having dashed around the fire as they had their conversation. Danzo had already disappeared into the shadows of the trees.

"You have made an honorable last stand, but I have to end this now." He made a last charge and channeled lightning through his sword. Homura fired a smaller fireball with the last of his chakra. Only three feet in diameter the cloud ninja cut through the center and continued through the middle. As he made it through the center he heard something whistling towards him. He turns enough to bring up his sword and try to block before he knows what it is. Then he sees the air bullet shoot through the fire making a small but incredibly powerful combined jutsu. He desperately tries to deflect the ball with his charged sword even though he knows it won't save him. Even with the sword's deflection and his attempt at dodging the bullet it still hit him in his right shoulder. It blew a portion of his chest and his arm away. He was dead before he hit the ground. They returned to the clearing where they had first been separated from their teammates and found Hiruzen and Koharu waiting for them.

Tobirama's Fight

The Second Hokage was surrounded. Thirteen elite Kinkaku cloud ninja and he could feel Kinkaku himself closing in from twenty miles away. He knew he had to end this fast. He could feel where each one was in the trees with his sensor ability. He stomped on the ground raising himself three feet on a bed of stone and soaking the ground around his platform. He pulled out the Sword of the Thunder God and waited for his enemies to attack him.

He didn't wait long as five ninja rushed towards him swords drawn hoping to defeat him with numbers. The Hokage had a plan though, seeing them break from the trees he stuck his sword in the standing water running electricity through it. Four of the shinobi were fast enough to jump out of the water in time, but the one straight behind didn't see and screamed as he fell into the charged water dying from the shock. The four in the air had started to descend thinking their victory certain when they saw the Hokage making hand signs. In the air, they didn't have a chance to dodge as spears of water shot through their chests from all sides.

'Only eight left' After another fifteen seconds, he decided he didn't have time to wait for his enemy to attack. His chakra pulse had revealed that Kinkaku was coming and he couldn't fight him with his students around. He hoped they were alright. Another pulse with his sensor ability confirmed that Hiruzen and Danzo had defeated their opponents and were on their way to help their teammates. Kinkaku was eighteen miles away and closing fast.

He made a shadow clone and started towards where his enemy had grouped to form a plan. Running toward them clone used a large jutsu. "Water bullet storm" he yelled and a hail of water pellets flowed from the ground the Hokage had previously soaked. As the bullets struck they ripped chunks out of trees and destroyed branches. None of the enemy ninja were hit, but they were all separated. His clone ran to the left most enemy and the real Hokage went right.

(Real Hokage)

He ran towards his enemy sword drawn and ready to clash blades with cloud ninja. Three of them had regrouped and were waiting for him. They weren't as overconfident as the first five and fought defensively. Blocked by two blades at once the Second finally unleashed the true power of his sword. The lightning of the cloud ninjas was overpowered and more was shot back at them electrocuting them and stopping their hearts. A fourth ninja had joined the group leaving him and his clone with four each. The two that remained for the real Hokage were running away and trying to dodge his sword. They were fast enough to dodge his sword, but forgot about his mastery of water and one was skewered after dodging a downward swing. Tendrils flew from the ground and flew through his chest. The last ninja distracted by his friend's death was quickly killed by the Sword of the Thunder God.

Kinkaku was ten miles away now. He didn't have time for this he had to find his team and get out. With this in mind he ran to his team. They had survived and were regrouped in the clearing where he left them. His shadow clone popped at this point and informed him that the other ninja had been led away and one had been killed. He had to get his team to a better position to kill the remaining ninja and distract Kinkaku.

His group was tired, but they could still run. They started their retreat and everything was going well until Tobirama used his sensor ability and found out the lightning ninja had decided to follow disregarding their own safety for their mission. Making a shadow clone with a third of his remaining chakra they continued on. The clone was left on a lake that they had passed. This is where the clone would fight them.

(Clone's perspective)

Standing on the lake using his chakra sensor ability he waited until the three were almost to the lake when he yelled "Great Water Dragon". A mass of water surged towards the ninja and was too large for them to dodge. It was over twenty yards wide and crashed down on them crushing their bodies and killing them instantly. More importantly, it left Kinkaku a large path to follow. For his plan to work he had to be here.

The technique took a lot of his chakra, but it was worth it to make sure Kinkaku came after him instead of his team. The clone began to write three seals. He placed them on trees surrounding the lake and waited.

Kinkaku appeared on the lake and laughed. "I see you plan to fight me with all this water around. There is nothing that will save you from me this time. You were able to crawl away last time, but I'll finish the job this time."

"I remember your brother being a there too. Without him, the most impressive thing about you is your hair. Three Seal Barrier."

Kinkaku saw a clear triangular barrier form above them as the Hokage yelled Bringer-of-Darkness. "You may believe that you're great, but you're nothing more than common trash. Even more so without your brother here to save you." His voice rang around the barrier making his words even more ominous.

"I'll kill you. I let you escape once and now I'm going to fix that mistake."

Kinkaku heard steps on the water coming from behind and turned to face the noise. As soon as he looked the sound stopped. Then started from another direction. This pattern repeated itself several times Kinkaku becoming more paranoid by the second. And then a hand reached out of the water and he slashed it away.

'It was only water, what's happening here?' He realized that he wouldn't win a fight like this and jumped into the air and releases a large cone of lightning below him. The Second's clone also jumped and made a shield of water that redirected the lightning into the lake. There wasn't much chakra left those two jutsu and these little tricks were wearing him out. To think a Kage level ninja would be scared of the dark and one of simplest d-rank jutsu, a small splash of water behind him that sounded like footsteps. This is why he made sure everyone knew the basics, they were just as likely to save a life as any a-rank jutsu.

"You're such a fool Kinkaku a brute with some chakra. It's why I'm the greatest living ninja and you're a disgrace," yelled Tobirama.

Kinkaku screamed again and let out even more lightning. The clone was destroyed and the darkness faded to show the weak barrier. That he broke through easily.

Kinkaku cursed Tobirama and spat out a promise "I'll kill you next time we meet Hokage."

-  
With the real Tobirama

Another chakra pulse checked the location of Kinkaku. 'The clone stalled him for fifteen minutes. That's more than enough for us to make it.' Three hours later the team had made it safely back to their camp. Kinkaku had stopped following them after the diversion on the lake.

"Hiruzen."

"Yes, Tobirama-sensei."

"Thank you for giving an old ninja hope, but what I said in the forest still applies. It's time for the next generation to take over even if I'm still alive. I'll be there to help you, but when this war is over I'll make you Hokage."

"I don't think I'm ready."

"I'll be there to help you, Saru."

"Thank you, Sensei."


	2. Chapter 2

I don't own Naruto or any of the characters from the series.

"Talking"

'Thinking'

I saw a couple of people liked the story so I made another chapter. If anyone has any ideas for this story or any others that they want someone to write I'm definitely willing to read suggestions. This story is mostly just me trying to deal with the plot holes in the beginning of the story and seeing where it takes me. I'll do a quick recap of what all has changed at the end of the chapter.

The Rage of a Peaceful Man

After the First Great Ninja War

Hiruzen Sarutobi had just been made the Third Hokage. The inauguration had been a grand affair in the Leaf. Only a week after the victory against the Cloud, Stone, and Mist village they were still feeling high and mighty. All of the major villages had all taken severe losses, but the Leaf was recovering quickly. Their major losses were the First Hokage and their ally the village hidden in the Whirlpools. The Senju clan had taken a large loss, but it would continue with its 32 remaining members.

Mist had destroyed Whirlpool as their opening move in the war. The First Hokage's wife Mito Uzumaki was there visiting when the attack happened and had been killed defending her homeland. At the first sign of trouble, she activated the communication seal that she shared with her husband. Getting her distress call he rushed towards the island.

Flashback

Hashirama was in his office late in the evening when he received the message. He froze for a moment and a feeling of dread rolled over him. Activating sage mode, he found his brother and said the last two sentences his brother would ever hear from him.

"Mito needs me. Give this to Tsunade." Tobirama understood and wordlessly accepted the necklace that had been handed to him. If his brother was being this serious there was no talking him out of it. It would be his responsibility to ensure the survival of his brother's legacy and guide the village through the war. If Hashirama was rushing to a fight it meant only one thing… war was coming to the elemental nations.

After that, the First Hokage flew out of the village towards his wife. Sprinting the entire trip to the village hidden in the Whirlpools. It would have taken a normal Jonin nine hours to make it to the shore and another four by boat. The strongest shinobi that anyone could remember reached shore in two hours.

Greeting him on the beach was several hundred ninja from Lightning and Mist. They had decided to start an invasion into his country to stop Whirlpool from getting assistance, but they think they would be met by the God of Shinobi. Leaping from the trees that covered most of thefire country, he landed gracefully and summoned several wood clones. He and each of his clones summoned a great wood dragon to clear a path to his true objective. The dragons obliterated most of the enemy forces covering close to 300 yards of sand in blood and gore. The clones would stay and defeat the rest of the army while the real Hashirama ignored the screams of the injured and stragglers that no longer dared attack him.

Running on to the ocean he was faced with more enemies in ships. He turned their wood hulls against them. Each one was encased in his chakra suppressing wood and sank to the bottom of the bay never to be seen again. Having passed or killed everyone in his way he began his journey by sea at sunset to reach his wife.

An hour later the village came into sight. The day having turned to night the first thing he saw was a previously beautiful city on fire. His rage renewed, he finished his sprint passing a few ships that received a similar fate he reached the now blood stained sands he had visited just months ago.

In the streets of the city, the fighting was over and the last few ninja were looting the bodies of those they had killed. He instantly noticed that no man woman or child had been spared. And so, the island was purged of any remaining ninja, but most of the force had before he got there.

After a thorough search of the city, he found his wife in front of the village leaders building. Her body long dead was filled with kunai and had obviously been hit by several water Jutsu leaving it a mangled mess. He wept over his body before growing cold and swearing that the ninja responsible would die afraid of the wrath they had brought on themselves. He did a quick seal over her original holding the Nine-tails in to prevent it from weakening for the next several days.

Inside he found almost twenty survivors being protected by the seals that made Whirlpool famous. Hundreds of ninja had lost their lives to elaborate traps throughout the city and none had managed to get into the main building that housed the village's secrets and the last survivors. His blood opening the seal he walked inside and saw over a dozen citizens cowering in fear of a foreign man who just walked in covered and several Jonin, Chunin, and Genin protecting a group of civilians. The Jonin were delirious with chakra exhaustion. They had been tasked with keeping the seals up until help arrived.

The constant attacks had drained the stored chakra on the seals quickly and they now required a constant source of chakra to remain useful. One of the Chunin was quick to the door but stopped when he recognized who had entered. He stopped to heal the injured and ordered them to wait for ninja more from the Leaf to arrive. It probably wouldn't be until morning, but the Uzumaki were a powerful ally and friend of the village that wouldn't be abandoned.

He continued his journey to Mist country to seek his revenge. A normally calm and non-violent man had been reduced to pure rage. He believed that fighting should be a last resort and had bowed his head to these people. Now they had spearheaded an attack on his allies and killed his wife. Mist would find hell at its gate before morning.

Finding his way to Mist running the long distance on the water he arrived shortly before sunrise. Reaching the village walls he unleashed his most devastating technique with a powerful yell that echoed across the city in the early morning hours.

"Sage Art: Wood Style True Thousand Hands Creation"

The scream ringing through the valley was all the warning that Mist would get before his righteous anger rained down upon them. The great monstrosity began to move into the village knocking over walls and flattening buildings without slowing down. The man that had formed the Valley of the End was about to reshape the surface of the earth again. Several Jonin were on the wall that he had destroyed and were able to react immediately, but their efforts had little effect.

"Great Water Dragon" was yelled out by four trying to at least slow the titan down.

"Water Severing Wave" another two attempted a more refined technique intending to slice away several of the arms to save them from their inevitable death.

"Rising Water Slicer" was by far the most common yell. The jutsu used by Chunin, as it was the easiest to learn, was normally devastating, but like the others fell short of stopping the towering wood behemoth.

Even with all of the jutsu together they didn't slow down the beast as it overpowered them. It began rapidly raining down its huge fists battering the city. Several of the fists were crushed or batted away as an incredibly thick chakra filled mist rolled into the area. Hashirama briefly wondered what the cause was before he heard a Jonin on the ground.

"The Seven Swordsman are here. Th-there's no way he can stop all of them, right?" He stuttered out the brief question without getting a reply. Some to stunned by what they were seeing, some having a similar question, and the rest praying to any higher power that would listen, nobody had time to respond. As the short pause was replaced by all-out combat.

After briefly closing his eyes to gather a little bit more nature chakra, the First Hokage began his campaign into the village to meet his newest adversaries head on. He didn't have to wait long as soon two hulking men wielding massive and unique weapons charged him. One was large and made of iron with some strange design, but the other was truly remarkable. It seemed alive with its own chakra. It moved slightly seemingly independent of its master, but based on the similarities in their chakra was still bound to him.

Deflecting the less impressive iron sword with his arm he focused on the more pressing enemy and attempted to dodge the living sword in front of him. The overhand slice downward was dodged, but the end of the sword turned and tried to bite his side.

Hashirama batted it away feeling the sword for the first time and noticed scales instead of a sharp edge. 'Interesting indeed' he thought. This was a truly unique weapon likely on par with the battle fan used by Madara. 'With how impressive this one is I wonder what the other five are like.'

He didn't have time to stop and wonder long as a long thin projectile rocketed towards him and grazed his side. It had slipped between the plates of his armor and left a small cut, but it was healed rapidly. It was still the first attack to draw his blood today. Feeling a string try to wrap around him he jumped back up his wooden construct.

Yet another approached this time with two swords crackling with lightning. The leaping first strike was blocked by a wooden dome that appeared from the arm they were standing on. The First came out over the dome and saw a small scratch in the wood. 'Not my best shield, but I'm still surprised it managed any damage at all. Though it pales in comparison to The Sword of the Thunder God, still effective.' A spike rocketed out of the wood forcing that swordsman to jump off of their current battleground.

A new swordsman appeared behind him swinging a scroll at him. 'Explosives on a melee weapon. Doesn't seem like a good idea to me, but I should still avoid it instead of blocking.' Dodging under the sword he grabbed the man's arm and threw him much further into the village.

The original two tried again finally able to approach on the relatively narrow surface of the arm. This time they made coordinated attacks from opposite sides of his body realizing this wouldn't be as easy as they first expected. Blocking each with one arm the First displayed his true strength. Both men were shocked at the display. As they momentarily paused four copies seemed to separate and leave from his back.

The clones jumped into the mist to find the other swordsman. Kicking the man wielding the most standard blade away he returned full attention to sword who had apparently had tried to eat his chakra. While that would have been extremely detrimental to most people, sucking in nature chakra hurt the sword more than himself. While it didn't do any permanent damage, the sword wouldn't try to eat his chakra again.

The swordsman wielding the interesting weapon now regaining his poise racked the sword back towards him ripping off the plates on the First's bracer and leaving a deep scrape on his arm.

'So that's what it does. I wonder how they made it. He seems to be the most powerful judging on the difference between the two swings. I better end him quickly before he gets in a lucky shot.' Wincing at the pain in his arm he put it behind his back and took a stance showing his left arm in front with his dominant hand dropped behind him.

His enemy smirked thinking he had disabled his foe. 'Samehada told me something is wrong with his chakra. He won't be able to eat it, but with him down to one arm I shouldn't need to steal his chakra'

He began to swipe furiously back and forth showing his skill with the great weapon, but he wasn't nearly as fast as Hashirama. It wasn't long before the sage dodged under an attack and grabbed his sword arm breaking it and taking the sword from him. As he held the sword spikes shot out and it wiggled in an attempt to be free of his hands. While most would have dropped when the spikes tore through their hand Hashirama continued to inspect the blade.

'Very peculiar. It recognizes people based on their chakra signature. It's desperate to get away from me. No matter, it won't have a wielder to go back to for long. He threw the sword off of the side of the arm they stood on and continued the assault on the large man in front of him.

Beating the man after a relatively shoddy bout of hand-to-hand combat his enemy was knocked out.

"To most, you would be a fearsome opponent. I can't let you harm my village." With the final word his body was impaled with several spikes and left there dead. As he charged deeper into the city leaving another clone to operate wooden colossus he had made.

Clone One

This clone followed the trail of the thrown sword. Arriving he saw a lean man holding a long needle-like sword. 'A needle and thread how fascinating.' The man threw the sword at him once again, but with Hashirama's full attention he didn't stand a chance at hitting him. As the enemy pulled his sword back in the Sage charged him. Within 10 feet of his target, he suddenly stopped and leaped back. Another large man appeared where he had been swinging a massive hammer with two handles.

"I'm sorry, but I can't let you kill him. There aren't many that would replace his pansy ass sewing people together like some damned woman," stated the gruff man.

"I told you Ryota, I found an apprentice."

"Can it Takumi, nobody cares about you or your girly sword."

The Hokage having heard enough planted his hands on the ground and summoned a forest through a large portion of the city and throwing his adversaries off balance. Charging the man with the needle again his fist connected with his head as it exploded. 'Damn it, a water clone.' The needle once again shot towards him and grazed his leg.

Wood filled in the clone's injury as it regenerated itself. Having completed his goal of scouting the enemy and shifting the environment to his advantage the clone spent the rest of its short life dodging to buy time for the original. Not as nimble or powerful as the original it was soon smashed to pieces by the massive hammer of Ryota.

Clone Two

Following the man with the lightning swords was easy he had been sent off to the right of the arm and had barely recovered when the clone landed. The first several strikes were dodged as the clone led him a bit further from the arm. Having a better understanding of his opponents style he started to counter attack. Trading blows worked out in the Hokage's favor. Taking a cut across his shoulder for cracking a couple of his opponent's ribs. Getting close to losing a leg for breaking one of his. The clone continued to regenerate while his opponent was crippled. Finally disarming his foe, he took up the Kiba and plunged them through his heart. Leaving the body where it died he went to the ideal location and covered another fourth of the city in a massive forest with the last of its chakra.

Clone Three

Following the man with the huge sword, the clone soon found him. The man swung the massive cleaver towards him repeatedly, each swing offering potential death to the clone. Hoping the man would become fatigued by such rapid strikes of the huge weapon he continued to dodge while leading him further into the city. Seeing the forest cover the other half of the city this clone did the same. Hoping the man had become fatigued by such rapid strikes of the huge weapon he decided to fight back.

Running low on chakra this clone also took his last stand among the trees. Using the terrain and his opponents mounting frustration to his advantage he waited for one of the wild swings to sink the sword into a tree. As the sword sunk in he made his offensive. Like the other swordsmen, he was almost defenseless without his weapon. Shortly after the assault started another fighter interrupted the battle leaving the wielder of Kubikiribocho a battered and broken, but alive.

Seeing the ninja, he assumed he was the last member of the seven swordsmen. Wielding a huge axe and hammer the man didn't waste any time assaulting the clone. The clone continued to dodge until he had a better understanding of his opponent's style. Waiting for another powerful strike he summoned a wall of wood to test the power of his strikes. Seeing the axe break through the wall he was surprised and finally the clone was dispelled returning his memories to the original.

Clone Four

He chased after the man with the exploding sword. Reaching the far corner of the village he found the whole that the man had left as he fell. Coming out of the building covered in small cuts and bruises the man charged swinging his weapon wildly and knocking down buildings on his own. 'He'd destroy his own city and kill his own people to get to me. Truly, he is a sad man. 'Waiting for the next explosion he used the cloud of dust to disguise his jutsu and pierced the man several times with wooden spikes.

Continuing to the final position he completed covering the village in trees.

The Original

He'd found his way to the Kage building. The Mizukage was leaving the building with two ninja following him. He appeared in front of them blocking their path.

"You've taken what my love and now I'll kill everyone in this village. You are a vile people and I shall cleanse the world of your wickedness." Hashirama made his intentions clear as he sped towards the Kage. Suddenly the two ninja were covered in a red chakra and the Mizukage began to laugh.

"Do you still believe it was wise to give each nation tailed beasts to turn into weapons. There is no way you will escape this village alive. The Mist will recover and then we'll take Fire country with…" the first section of the forest sprang up. It was closely followed by the rest of the town. The Mizukage stared around in confusion as the misty sky was replaced by green leaves. People screamed as trees burst through their homes." W-What have you done? How? No man is this powerful!"

"You have crossed me and will pay in your villages blood. I don't plan on leaving this Village, but nobody else will either." The First Hokage rushed to the two covered in red and began the fight hitting one with a kick pushing him back several yards as he focused on the other. Their speed and strength were enhanced by the tailed beast chakra coming from them, but they were mediocre ninja before the sealing and were still significantly weaker than him. He was able to deliver a flurry of blows on the six tail Jinchuriki before he was sent back with a powerful blow.

Seeing that they were losing their tailed beasts upped the chakra they were taking. Now at a stage two cloak, they began an assault on the Hokage. Hashirama jumped deeper into the forest that had been created as he was chased by the Jinchuriki. The Six-tails being faster and caught up to him first engaging him with his hands. He was leaking some sort of corrosive substance that was dissolving the trees he landed on forcing Hashirama to dodge instead of retaliating. Landing on a branch the Hokage made a quick hand sign and the branch shot spikes out behind him hitting the Six-tail Jinchuriki and stopping him.

The Three-tails then caught up and tried a similar technique will coating everything he touched in coral. The First Hokage was able to land several hits on him without any consequences and was then able to bind him with his wood jutsu. He quickly sprinted up and touched the Jinchuriki's head calming the tailed beast, making the chakra recede, and leaving the host unconscious.

At this point, the Six-tails was back attacking along with the appearance of the three remaining ninja swordsmen and the Mizukage. He created six more wood clones. Each ninja swordsman was forced to fight a clone while three distracted the Six-tails. This left him with the Mizukage.

"You won't get away with this. You're spread too thin. This forest is impressive, but no man can kill all seven swordsmen, a Kage, and defeat two Jinchuriki. I don't care if they call you the God of Shinobi. It won't happen."

The Mizukage started going through hands signs for a water jutsu and the Hokage responded by doing the same.

"Swirling Serpent"

"Wood Dragon"

A huge snake of water rose from around the Mizukage and charged the Hokage. The wood dragon attempted to block the attack, but the serpent was nimbler than the dragon. Wrapping around the Dragon it sped towards the Hokage. The Hokage raced through more seals and a hand made of wood covered him. Before the snake struck it opened its mouth and sent a high-pressure beam that weakened the structure and then bit into crushing the hand.

The Mizukage was still on guard, but feeling better about the fight. He had never seen the First Hokage fight, but he heard rumors that he was invincible. Cautiously approached the hand to see the Hokage's body. As he arrived the Hokage rose from the ground behind him and knocked him out with a chop his neck.

The swordsman with the hammer and axe had defeated his clone and jumped as he finished dealing with the Mizukage. A wild swing would have connected if it weren't for the enhanced senses he got from sage mode. Turning towards his newest problem he was halted by a huge explosion that rocked the ground. He recovered after a slight stumble, unlike his opponent who was thrown to the ground. He used this opportunity to end the fight. All of his clones and their opponents had been defeated. They were all caught in an explosion from a tailed beast bomb. Seeing the Six-tails erupt from the host he sprinted back to where his wooden construct was. While he had been on the ground it had continued to fight swarms of Mist ninja.

Arriving at the base he ran up on of the arms and sat at the top and focused taking control over the behemoth and used it to challenge the tailed beast. The clone he had left had joined himself into the wood and laid in wait for the Mizukage. The slug shot its powerful corrosive acid at him but was blocked by several arms that shot out toward the beast. Despite his motive of destroying the city he tried to restrain the beast. His intention was to kill all of the ninja while sparing as many civilians as possible, but a tailed beast would kill everyone indiscriminately.

The Mizukage woke up as another barrage of hands rained down on his city. He raced towards the wooden figure that was beating the Six-tails. He ran up the side of the figure thinking that the Hokage hadn't seen him. He charged in as soon as he saw the Hokage. The clone that had merged with the wooden construct came out and blocked the Mizukages attack. Shooting spikes from the ground the Mizukage was forced to retreat.

"You won't defeat me with a clone Hashirama. Face me yourself now."

"Unfortunately, you don't possess the power needed to save your people so I shall have to. You will watch as I kill your ninja and save your citizens. You mock me for loving humanity and striving for peace, but my power has now eclipsed that of your entire city. My final act will be destroying you and your people. I will kill all of you to the last Genin and then I'll kill myself. Unlike you, I'm not a monster that can live with myself after destroying a city. I hope the world is able to achieve peace without us, but that can't happen with a village killing innocents or a world in fear of a single man."

"How dare you suggest us so weak!"

The Mizukage charged in his rage. The clone threw more jutsu at him as he ran, but everything missed. As he passed the clone one of thousand hands grabbed him and restrained his chakra.

"You will watch the death of your village and then you'll die."

As the Hokage finished his sentence the arms wrapped around the Six-tails and restrained it. He began another jutsu.

"Entering Society with Bliss-Bringing Hands." The beast was pacified and reentered its Jinchuriki. The few ninja that remained scattered. The First Hokage made some clones to chase them down. Some would escape and probably already had, but he wouldn't allow their crimes to go unpunished if he could. Descending back into the town he did a quick of the town and found it completely empty. All of the citizens that hadn't been caught in the fighting had been evacuated. 'This loss of life was unfortunate. I hope the learn their lesson and are reborn a more peaceful village.' He knew it was unlikely, but he could hope anyway. The last two people were the Jinchuriki. He took them back to the Thousand Hands golem and prepared his last jutsu.

"Hellfire Devastation" A wide cone covered the majority of the city lighting the rest of the forest on fire. He reduced his wooden titan back to the ground.

"This is it Mizukage. You have been defeated. Your village will be reborn, but it won't be here. You have forfeited your Jinchuriki to the Leaf. The Whirlpool has been avenged. I doubt death will be kind to either of us, but there is only one way to find out."

"I'm sor…" The Mizukage's head was separated from his shoulders. The Hokage put a sealing technique on both Jinchuriki that his brother had taught him for sealing the tailed beasts. He formed two more clones with the last of his chakra and fell to his knees in exhaustion. The clones burned his body to ash as required for all ninja and collected them into a plan wood jar. They took the jar and Jinchuriki back to the Leaf.

Flashback end

Eighteen Uzumaki lived through the siege and had come to the Leaf village with their clan secrets. They were given a clan house next to the Senju. Three had volunteered to have the tailed beasts sealed inside them and with their natural physical resistance it was decided that they would be the best option. This would cement their clan's place as holders of the tailed beasts. The few Jonin that remained began teaching the other ninja sealing and the children that were interested joined the academy. They had joined the Leaf without much conflict and had made it home quickly. They hadn't lost anyone in the war as they worked on developing seals that would better protect their new village. Their own property was lined with seals that could restrain tailed beast chakra and made it so that no one in the village would feel it as they worked on taming the beasts.

Whirlpool had been turned into a cemetery and monument to their once great clan. Mito was brought back to be buried with her husband. Everyone was told that they had retrieved his body from Mist and that he had destroyed the city. Many were surprised to learn of his death but understood the revenge he took.

The Senju had the greatest loss throughout the war due to their caring and pride filled nature. Whenever an escape needed to be covered or sacrifice made it was always a Senju to volunteer. They only had a few more than the Uzumaki, but they would live on as well.

The military police were replaced with the ANBU and an Uchiha was made commander of the new special forces unit. Their relationship with the rest of the village seemed to be improving because of their benefit to the war effort.

The clan heads made a council that occasionally called on the Hokage to make suggestions, but they had little to no power.

The village recovered more quickly than the others due to the influx of missions from border countries that didn't have ninja. With most villages being defeated almost all of them went to the Leaf.

Next time: The Next Generation

These are the big changes.

Madara Uchiha is dead. He didn't crawl away or something he's done. He's not coming back. This will have the biggest change on the story, but I do have an idea for how I want it to end.

The Second Hokage lived through his encounter with 20 Elite Ninja and Kinkaku. This was probably the thing that bothered me the most. He died to lightning ninja when he has a sword that controls lightning. He has perfect control of water and is supposed to be a master tactician. He has the most effect on the story next to Madara. He made the Hirashin, Shadow Clone jutsu, the academy, and trained the Third starting the chain of main characters. Seemed silly for him to die like that.

The First Hokage's death. Madara was creating and dropping meteors on people and the First beat him. He is pretty much the definition of power in the series to the point that people start trying to become him. There isn't any way he died to something unless he chose to. I figured I'd have to make a reason for him to be at least okay with dying, so I chose revenge. I like the idea of what happened, but I'm not sure if my writing worked for all of the fighting scenes. I'm not sure if they'll read well so any input on that is appreciated.

The Uzumaki and Senju weren't exterminated. I don't see any reasonable way to wipe out these two clans. Masters of Sealing with naturally high chakra and life force supplies couldn't put up a barrier strong enough to survive a siege. That doesn't really sound right to me. If four people that end up defeated by Chunin and Genin (I'm talking about the Sound Four) are able to put up a barrier that keeps everyone out for as long as that fight takes without any serious strain, then the clan that does Fuinjutsu should be able to put something together to at least save a few people. The Senju were as strong or stronger than the Uchiha. I made them take a major hit, but there will still be a few around.

I couldn't find much on the ninja wars so I'll probably be writing through both the second and third if people care to see those. If you guys just want me to get to Naruto I can do that to. I like epic length stories so this will probably be pretty long eventually.

Also, let me know what length chapters you like. I just started classes again so I don't know how often I'll be able to put something up on Friday or Saturday each week. It may be less often if people decide they'd rather have longer chapters.

Hopefully see you next week.


	3. A Legend is Born

Importance of a Teacher Chapter 3 A Legend is Born Five years after the First War "Saru, I want you to take a Genin team." The Second Hokage had been teaching him about being a Hokage for the past five years and things had been going well for the village. " What do you mean Sensei? I don't have time for teaching. I'm already drowning in my work as Hokage." "Teaching Genin is essential to being a Hokage. You need to be the guide for the next generation and there is no way better than training Genin.I have already picked a team from this year's graduating class for you. They have more potential as ninja and as teammates than any Genin before them and likely most after." The Second was serious about this. His reasoning made sense and the Third had no counter argument. "I assume you'll be taking over some of the responsibilities of Hokage." "Where it is needed." "Very well, what are their names." Handing him three files the Second read off their names. "Tsunade, Orochimaru, and Jiraiya." After giving them a quick read Sarutobi asked the one question that was bothering him. " I understand the potential in Orochimaru and Tsunade, but what about Jiraiya sticks out. Orochimaru is at the top of the class and has invented his style of Taijutsu. Tsunade your niece is already a great medic and as smart as any student I've seen. Jiraiya is dead last and barely graduated. He's constantly in trouble and has shown no discipline. He looks like he'll be a terrible ninja." "You're wrong Saru. Jiraiya will be more powerful than both of them. His Will of Fire rivals my brother's. He has more love and passion in him than most will ever see." "Alright Sensei, if you say so." 2 weeks later " Aaaagh," Jiraiya screamed as he was sent to the ground. He had lost to Orochimaru again. With each loss, he became more determined to beat him. "You'll need to train much harder if you ever want to beat me." "I will. One day you'll be the one looking up at me Orochimaru." "I wouldn't hold my breath." Orochimaru walked away from the training grounds leaving Jiraiya alone again. 'I'll show that bastard. He isn't better than me.' Jiraiya began hitting the training post trying to take out his frustrations on the wood. When he was done, his hands were bloody and bruised. So he began to run laps until he collapsed. Waking up several hours later his entire body was in agony. 'I won't let something like pain stop me.' He started more of the exercises that they were taught in the academy. He worked late into the night spurred only by the thought of another humiliating defeat. Next Morning Tsunade arrived first at the training ground that morning. Or at least she thought she had. A minute into her warm up she saw Jiraiya laying on the ground asleep. 'That moron, he did it again.' This was the fourth time she had found him like this. He had overdone his training and passed out in the forest. Jogging over she began to do a diagnostic jutsu.' He's covered in bruises, dehydrated, hasn't eaten in sixteen hours and has a pretty bad ankle sprain.' She looked up and saw the tree he was under.' I bet he climbed up that tree and passed out doing pull-ups.' "Wake up idiot," she yelled. Jiraiya sprung up to his feet and the immediately cried out. "Sit down, you sprained your ankle." Her hands moved down to his ankle and started to glow green. Finishing up Jiraiya thanked her and started to stand up. "Thanks, I feel a lot better." She pushed him back down and started moving her hands over the rest of his body healing the bruises and sore muscles. As much as she hated to admit it she was thankful for the practice she got from healing him. While she was already working on repairing complex organs and broken bones, refining the basics was always important. She noticed that he has been staring at her and smiling at her the whole time and blushed. "Stop looking at me like that, pervert." "But you're so beautiful and amazing, would you go on a date with me." "No Jiraiya. I keep telling you I'm not going to date you or anyone for a long time." "Alright Tsunade, I won't ask for a while." 'I suppose that's the best I can hope for.' "Thank you." Training continued normally for the next several weeks with Orochimaru winning spars, Jiraiya training relentlessly, and Tsunade healing him. Hiruzen taught as much as he could. Their main training was in teamwork. Despite the animosity between Jiraiya and Orochimaru, they rapidly learned to work together. It wasn't long before they were ready for their first real mission. Two months later They had assembled at the gate and Hiruzen told them about their mission. "You'll be going to clear out some bandits. From our reports, there should be about 10 to 15. I won't be able to leave the village for several days on a C-rank so I'm sending a Chunin with you. There he is now. I'll let him introduce himself." A man three or four years older than them up to the team. He had deep crimson hair and wore standard Chunin clothing with a smile. The only addition was a katana on his back. It had a black hilt and sheath with red trim coming into a red swirl. He was tall and displayed confidence as he stood in front of them. "Thank you, Hokage-sama. I'm Kinji Uzumaki and I'll be acting as your squad leader for this C-rank." "Now that you've been introduced and briefed I'll be on my way. Kinji will explain the details." The Hokage jumped back to the tower. There had been a minor emergency that needed his attention, but nothing too serious. He was confident that they could handle this. Orochimaru and Tsunade were probably low-Chunin level and Jiraiya wasn't far behind them. He had been so far behind them when they started he had seriously doubted his teacher. Now he had made more progress than either of his teammates. He had even started learning sealing. At first, Hiruzen had been against it because Jiraiya wasn't exactly the sharpest person he knew, but when Tobirama found out he insisted on teaching the boy himself. Their first lessons had gone well. It seemed he was a natural. Jiraiya had come close to giving up, but Tobirama was there to keep him on the path. Tobirama and Jiraiya's class 1 month ago Jiraiya walked in covered in bruises head to toe and limping. He was scowling and frustrated. "Sensei, I don't think I want to continue learning sealing." Tobirama remained impassive as he asked his next question. "Why is that Jiraiya?" "I'll never catch up to Orochimaru if I keep sitting here learning how to make stupid seals." Jiraiya was now almost yelling and obviously in pain. Unfortunately, Tsunade was at the hospital today so he had to live with the agony he was in. "Come here, Jiraiya." He still wasn't happy and begrudgingly limped over to his teacher. Tobirama began healing his injuries. "What happened?" "I lost another spar against Orochimaru. One day I'll show him, I'll beat him so bad. It won't be long, but I can't keep wasting time on this." "You'll never catch Orochimaru if you follow his path. You need to do what comes naturally to you." "Oh yeah, how would you know you're already powerful!?" "I spent much of my youth chasing my older brother Hashirama. I was never able to outdo him in Ninjutsu or Taijutsu so I tried Genjutsu. I struggled through practice. Even with excellent chakra control, it didn't come easily. Then I finally made my own technique the Infinite Darkness jutsu. I was so proud to show him. Then he picked it up in less than a quarter of the time it took me." "What did you do then." "I'm getting to that. You need to learn patience. Eventually, my father noticed how it bothered me. He began teaching me Fuinjutsu and I advanced rapidly while Hashirama continued building his wood jutsu. I inherited one of the deadliest swords in existence. Three years later I developed one of the most devastating jutsu ever to exist and I did it with Fuinjutsu." "What is it called?" "The Flying Thunder God." "Can I see it?" "Perhaps later, but only if you practice hard. One day I may choose to pass it down to you, but you need to have proved to me that you have complete mastery." "I'll do it! One day I'll be the best seals master around. That'll teach Orochimaru." Jiraiya returned to his studies with even more gusto. Each challenge was met with optimism and determination. Back at the gate "The village is on the east coast and it will take us several hours to get there. This will be an overnight mission, we'll have accommodations in the village. Keep a diamond formation while traveling I'll lead and have Orochimaru at the back. Move out." At about noon they started passing small farms and shortly after they arrived in a village bustling with activity. There were people everywhere trading food or clothing, fisherman bringing in huge hauls to take to market, and children running around playing. Kinji made off into the village while the others followed behind. This was the largest city they had been to on a mission, but it still didn't compare to the Leaf. Arriving the largest building in the city he knocked on the door and a large balding man opened the door in a green kimono. "Ah you must be the ninja I sent for you may call me Hatori. Please come inside." Kinji thanked the man as they stepped inside. They noticed the lavish interior had a variety of paintings and golden statues. 'I can't believe someone has so much money they can waste it one stuff like this' thought Jiraiya. Growing up as a poor orphan he was resentful of people that spent money on things that were so superfluous. "What seems to be your problem Hatori-sama." "Some bandits robbed a caravan that came in through our south road. As you've likely noticed we are a trade city so this cannot continue." "How many times has this happened." "Only once. Three days ago they stole from a large caravan that had four guards with it. They were just some untrained village men with spears, but they were all killed. That village won't trade with us if it happens again. You may not know this, but once one village leaves others will follow. They send a caravan every week so this must be taken care of before then. I will also give a bonus for any goods you are able to retrieve." All of them bowed before Kinji spoke again. " Thank you for entrusting this task to the Leaf village. If you could point us to our quarters we will start tomorrow morning." "Very well." The client then loudly clapped his hands and a girl in a plain white kimono appeared. She had an ornate necklace with the chief's symbol on it. She was in her early twenties and had dark brown hair and eyes. Her posture was perfect and submissive. "This is Sakiko, she has been a loyal servant for many years. Should you need anything you will ask her. I have matters to attend to if you excuse me." They followed the servant quietly as she led them to a large bedroom on the opposite side of the mansion. On their way, they saw someone in a similar dress, but her necklace was straight black instead of gold. She had a bruise on her face that was poorly covered with makeup. It was large, covering most of her right cheek and she may have had more on her body. They arrived at their room and shuffled inside to find a large space with four beds, a table, and little else. "This will be your room. I shall return with your midday meal. If you need to leave this room please ring this bell and one of the servants will escort you to your location. Please be quiet during your stay. Hatori-sama has important business that must not be interrupted. If you disobey the consequences will be severe." She gave the speech with no emotion and it was obviously rehearsed. "Thank you, Sakiko." Kinji began to relax, but the Genin seemed surprised at the rules and the servant. Jiraiya was the first to speak up. "They shouldn't be able to treat someone like that. He's not better than her because of who is parents were." "Be quiet, Jiraiya. If you're loud we won't be punished she will. This is the way of the world. You may not like it, but you better get used to it. You don't have the clout to stop it and an attempt will only bring them pain." After their meal, they began to plan their moves for the next day. They would find the survivors of the attack to get more information and then leave through the south gate and look for more evidence. Track down the bandits and then kill them. Dinner came and then they went to bed so they could have an early start. They woke up slightly before sunrise, had breakfast and then set out into the city. The main trader told them that he had seen 30 guys. They were mean, had huge muscles, and were well armed. They had been forced to leave their carts and walk the rest of the way to the village. They were five miles away from the village and had to run the whole way back. Most of the others seemed to agree and so they began their journey into the woods south of the village. Around three miles away they came across five broken down wagons. They had been completely looted and thrown off the road. After some searching, they found some footprints that led them to a camp not far from the road. The camp had 13 people in it. Four were on guard duty while four slept in the tents that the guards were surrounding. Four were training away from the camp while the last one led the through a sword style. While not very advanced, they were still more dangerous than an average bandit. Kinji was slightly worried about this now. The leader was 6'4" much bigger than his 5'9". He was wearing a full suit of dark black armor and had two swords on his side. He was through the basic kata expertly without any mistakes. 'Shit, that's definitely a samurai. I figured they were overexaggerating, but this is even worse than they said.' He looked over at his group and thought the situation over for a few seconds. 'I haven't worked with them before, but the Hokage spoke highly of them. He said Orochimaru is almost a Chunin and Jiraiya is high Genin. Tsunade is already a proficient medic if anything goes wrong. I think they can handle the men while I take on the leader.' They drew back while he told them about his plan. "Me and Orochimaru will circle around the camp and take the first two guards by surprise. Orochimaru will go first and I'll follow since I'm faster. Jiraiya and Tsunade will go last after the other guards have turned their attention to us. Orochimaru jumped out of the bush with a kunai drawn. Less than a half second later Kinji followed with his katana. Their enemies fell to the ground after having their throats slit. The other two guards turned around to see what happened and were knocked out by Tsunade and Jiraiya. Tsunade was a bit disturbed at her teammate and sensei. 'How could they kill like that? Like their lives meant nothing to them. The enemy leader had now recognized their presence and had started towards them with the people that had been practicing. He took on Kinji and left one of his men to the Genin. Tsunade and Jiraiya got one and Orochimaru got two. "Don't underestimate them. They may be children, but they're also ninja." He put his sword back into the sheath on his side and stood across from Kinji. "Would you challenge me to a proper duel, or are you a coward?" "Only a foolish ninja duels a samurai. I'm no fool." The samurai smirked and put his hands on his sword. In an Expert show of swordsmanship, he drew it while channeling chakra and sent two crescents of chakra that overlapped forming an x before charging. Kinji dodged to the right, however, he wasn't firmly on the ground when he clashed with the samurai. He was knocked off balance and received a long gash on his leg. While long it wasn't deep. It didn't limit his movements, but it was fairly painful. The samurai disengaged and spoke in a slightly disappointed tone. "My code doesn't allow me to kill you without allowing you to escape. If you continue to fight you will die." Hearing an explosion off to the right the samurai turned to see that one of his comrades had most of his head and chest blown away. "Since you have killed one of my allies the offer has been rescinded. You and your teammates must die." He charged again this time only pulling one sword. Kinji was able to block this time and locked blades with the samurai. "You won't find a coward in any Leaf village ninja. You may find your honor in rules, but we find ours in victory." As he spoke a red chain shot out from the hilt of the sword and hit his enemy. Unfortunately, the damage was minimized by his armor and quick reflexes. Turning his body, he was able to avoid most of the force and Kinji wasn't skilled enough yet to do anything but straight lines. Chakra Chains require almost perfect control which was difficult because of their larger than normal chakra pools. Their sealing techniques had found a way to make a chain come out through the swords of the ninja with moderate control. These swords were normally used by Chunin and Special Jonin that had the bloodline while they refined their techniques. Kinji wasn't going to fight defensively anymore. He realized that defending would only drag the fight until he was eventually killed by the superior swordsman. Hopefully his team would be able to finish the bandits and provide some support. With Jiraiya The bandit had immediately come in swinging. While he wasn't very fast and his strikes weren't well coordinated, he was much stronger than Jiraiya. He had clearly been training to fight for a long time. Fighting was the life of a bandit just as much as it was a ninja. They didn't have chakra, but they still had a decent chance against Genin. Most of his time was dodging and waiting for an opening. He had thrown a few shuriken and made small cuts on his opponents, but that didn't seem to be slowing him down much. He looked over at his teammates to see that they weren't doing too well. Kinji and Orochimaru had both already taken a cut or two and seemed to be losing their fights. Tsunade was in a similar situation. Only dodging and making a few shallow cuts. While he was worried about her his other teammates needed him more. He decided to end his fight quickly. Tobirama had given him a small collection of beginners combat tags including two explosive, smoke, and flash tags. He said he should get familiar with using seals in combat and that these should further prove their power. He had been surprised at the gift and had been incredibly grateful promising to double his training to make his Sensei proud. He took out one of his special kunai and threw it at him. The man didn't understand what it was and only dodged slightly to the right of the kunai. The small explosion had blown away his arm and his head was reduced to a splatter on the ground next to him. Jiraiya saw the four that had been sleeping were now out of their tents after the explosion. They had been waking up slowly assuming the fighting was only a more intense exercise that their new leader had them doing. Now outside seeing one of their friends dead they grew enraged. "You killed Kuto, you bastard." As they rushed Jiraiya he threw another kunai this time it bursting into a bright light and loud noise that had the bandits on the ground writhing in pain. Their screams were disturbing as they had been blinded and rendered deaf at the same time. Not knowing any better they had all watched the knife closely as it flew between all four of them. Jiraiya threw a kunai and at each and hit all in vital areas. Some of them would die slowly, but he didn't have time for mercy. Jiraiya rushed to aid Orochimaru. With Orochimaru Neither of his opponents were close to tiring and he already had several shallow cuts on his body. He had only escaped death because of the extreme flexibility that his family's snake style required. As much as he hated to admit it, he needed help. He was standing with his left arm pointed towards one and his right towards the other. He had determined that the one on the right was faster and more skilled so that was where most of his attention was focused. 'I just need to take down one and the other will fall easily.' An explosion distracted the opponent he kept to his right so he took a gamble and lunged towards him. While normally an adult practitioner of the snake style would aim for the eyes and throat, his height and the stretching lunge he used forced him to target his solar plexus. With the wind knocked out of him, his enemy fell to the ground in pain. Unfortunately, the man he had now turned his back to wasn't as distracted as the one in front of him. A cut appeared on his left leg, it was deep and right across the middle of his thigh starting from the interior and getting shallower as it went in. Luckily, his forward momentum carried him forward enough to keep his leg from being severed completely. He stumbled forward and fell down next to the bandit. He was able to turn over in time to see his other opponent bringing his sword down. Mid-swing, a white blur appeared in front of him and blocked the strike. Jiraiya had arrived just on time. Orochimaru took out a kunai and stabbed the bandit on the ground next to him. Jiraiya continued to block the strike, but was getting pushed back further by the stronger man. Remembering the basic academy lessons he started channeling chakra into his muscles to make then stronger. Working on sealing had made it much easier to use chakra consistently. Most techniques required short bursts of chakra, but for making seals you had to be able to force it through the brush constantly while writing the kanji. "Let me kill the freak and I might let you go." While the bandits were driven by their greed, they also seemed to have a friendship that drove him into a rage. "Like I'd ever give up to the likes of you." Jiraiya increased the chakra shortly and shoved the sword away. The man's weapon ended up raised over his head and he wasn't able to bring it down before the kunai was plunged into his stomach. Turning around he saw Orochimaru and the other bandit on the ground. The bandit had a kunai in his heart, but Orochimaru was sitting in a large puddle of his own blood. Orochimaru was only able to say two words before he passed out "g-get Tsunade." Jiraiya knew that he wouldn't find Tsunade in time. While he wasn't a medic, the academy had a basic first aid class. He knew that this was a life-threatening injury. With the amount of blood he was losing, he would die in a minute or two. Thinking quickly, he tore his jacket and grabbed one of the many sticks on the ground to apply a simple tourniquet. It looked like the flow of blood had at least slowed down so he secured it and went to look for Tsunade. With Tsunade Her enemy was faster and stronger than her. She felt so weak and regretted spending so much of her time working on her medical jutsu. 'How useful is a dead medic-nin.' Medics were meant to stay in hospitals or medical tents and have patients brought to them, but she had wanted to work in the field so she could save more people. She had underestimated the amount of combat training she would need. After swearing she would find a way to become stronger, she focused on the problem in front of her. She was thankful that her uncle had insisted on her learning how to dodge and increasing her speed. If it weren't for him she may be dead now. Thinking through the jutsu she knew she settled on the chakra scalpel jutsu. 'It should be able to cut through and disable him easily enough, but can I really kill him? I became a medic-bin to help people not hurt them. I'm sure he has a good reason for needing the money, right? What if he has a family? How could Orochimaru and Kinji do it so easily?' These thoughts flowing through her mind she continued to dodge. She had seen several openings she could have taken to kill him, but she couldn't do it. After spending a couple of minutes dodging, Jiraiya came into the clearing. "I'll deal with this Orochimaru needs you." Jiraiya challenged the man with his kunai and eventually locked blades with him. 'He is far weaker than the others. They must have decided that girls weren't able to fight.' It wasn't long before the man made an error that Jiraiya exploited. The man collapsed and died shortly after. Jiraiya raced back to the group. "How's he doing Tsunade?" "He's going to live, but he won't be able to stand on his left leg for awhile. I don't know when he's going to wake up so I'll stay with him while you go find Kinji." Jiraiya nodded and began the search for their team leader. With Kinji 'This is bad. I hope the Genin got away. I still can't believe I'll be forced to use his power again.' He was covered in cuts of varying sizes. Some were deep to the bone and others were shallow. At first, the samurai had tried to make him surrender, but as it became clear that he wouldn't his swings had become much more lethal. "I'm sorry you have to die, but my men must be avenged. Your fellow ninja will be given quick deaths." The samurai did seem somewhat remorseful, but he didn't doubt that he would kill all of them if Kinji didn't stop him now. Kinji closed his eyes for a second and the samurai charged. As he got close a red cloak appeared around Kinji and blew the man away. His speed increased Kinji started his assault on the samurai. The samurai displayed impressive skills parrying and dodging many of his attacks. It had been two minutes when the second tail began to form. He stopped momentarily and struggled, grabbing his head and falling to the ground. He stood up and rushed the man again. Turning into a blur the man's chest was obliterated as his hand was shoved through it. The body fell off his hand and he again returned to the ground seemingly writhing in pain. Coral began to appear on the grass around him. A third tail appeared and he was quickly back on his feet looking around and sensing someone in the trees. As he turned golden chains shot towards him and he couldn't dodge. They wrapped around him and the red cloak disappeared. He passed out and the chains receded back into the seal. 'What was that? That was what sensei was talking about. How did he get so much power? I didn't know chakra could be visible and red like that.' Jiraiya and Tsunade carried their friends back to the village chief's house, delivered a report, and then took Kinij and Orochimaru to rest in their quarters. Kinji was up the next day, but it would take Orochimaru several days before he could walk. They carried him back to the village and reported their success to the Hokage after dropping Orochimaru off at the hospital. Author's Note Jiraiya is going to be a bunch stronger for this fic. This will probably continue down the line to Naruto, but I will also be adding much more powerful enemies. There will basically just be more S-class ninja. I don't plan on making anyone god-like compared to the people around them. The First Hokage was an exception because he already was in the Anime. As always all reviews are appreciated. 


End file.
